Three Cazenovia men formally objected to Madison County Independence Party petitions, charging they were "permeated with fraud."

As a result, incumbent Assemblyman Bill Magee, D-111, will not appear on the Independence Party line in the upcoming November general election, but will maintain his spot on the Democratic line.

State Board of Elections officials say that when a party submits a petition for the primary, it is submitting a petition for the entire election process, both primary and general elections. If a petition is thrown out before a primary, the candidate can't be put on the ballot for the general election.

Objections to the petitions were filed by George Puzey, Matthew McDowell and William Carroll, all of Cazenovia, state Board of Election officials said.

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Records on file with the Madison County Board of Elections indicate that Puzey is registered as a Republican and Carroll and McDowell are registered with the Independence Party.

By July 18, the first part of a two-part objection process began as Puzey, McDowell and Carroll filed general objections, with specific objections filed on July 25.

Among the allegations:

o The petitions bear names of people who are not registered voters;

o The petitions bear names of people who are not Independence Party members;

o The petitions bear signatures that aren't legible;

o There are alterations to the dates or places that are not initialed correctly.

On Wednesday, Puzey said that when he reviewed the petition, many signatures did not look like they were in compliance with election law, so he filed an objection with the state.

The Independence Party needed 222 signatures of registered party voters who live in the district to put Magee's name on their ballot line. They submitted petitions bearing 253 signatures.

The state Board of Elections examined the 253 signatures, but disallowed 227, leaving only 26.

But, there may be other problems with the some of the names.

There is a signature indicating that Jeff Leahey signed the petition. Leahey is the pastor of Church on the Rock on Railroad Street in Oneida and lives on Broad Street.

After being shown the petition on Thursday, Leahey said, "I did not sign that; I would never sign anything like that."

"That's not even close to my signature," Leahey said.

Leahey provided a sample of his signature to the Oneida Dispatch and it appeared that the signature on the petition was not Leahey's.

Further, Leahey noted that as of the date on the petition, he was not a registered voter. He only recently registered to vote.

The names of Rita and Peter Moonen of Oneida also appear on the document, but they say they never signed it or saw it. "We signed one a few years ago for the party," Rita Moonen said, but no one came to their house this year.

Rita Moonen's signature also does not match the one on the petition; she said her husband's purported signature doesn't look like his, either.

The majority of the names on the petition, including Leahey's and the Moonens', were witnessed by Brian E. Karst, a volunteer for the Independence Party.

When informed that some individuals named in the petition say they didn't sign it, Karst said he had no idea how that could happen.

"I don't know why anyone would say they didn't sign it if they did," he added.

Karst went on to say that he doesn't verify signatures by asking for identification when he goes door-to-door.

"I've never had an issue before," he said.

Madison County District Attorney William Gabor said that signing someone else's name to a document, especially one that is to be filed as a public record, is forgery. He said that, depending on the circumstances, criminal charges could range from a class A misdemeanor to a class D felony, but there would first have to be a complaint.

He added that challenges to petitions are common. "It's pure politics," the chairman said, "and I don't like it."

He said that the Independence Party is a small party that can't afford to hire an attorney to fight the decision, and also that the state Board of Elections is quick to throw out petitions if the group submitting them does not challenge the ruling.

He added that generally, when parties collect signatures, they obtain 5 to 10 percent more than what is needed in the event that some are challenged.

"When you go out and collect signatures, you usually get a buffer," Karst said.

This year, they were unable to obtain a buffer, because several people had health issues, he said.

The state held a July 31 hearing on the objections. "The recommendation of the staff was to invalidate the petition, having found that, after evaluation of the objections, it lacked the necessary number of signatures," Board of Elections spokesperson Tom Connolly wrote in an e-mail to the Dispatch.

"We don't rule on fraudulent signatures," Connolly said. "The Board of Elections only throws out signatures they find invalid."

When asked what might have gone wrong with the petitions, Brian Karst said, "I don't have any idea." He said that there were a few people collecting signatures this year for the Independence Party.

The petition bears signature witnesses including Terry Karst, Brian Karst and Paul Corgel from Syracuse. One page of the petition was witnessed by Ann Jones, a notary public.

"I'm not new at this," Brian Karst said. He has been collecting signatures for petitions for the last eight or nine years. "It has never been a problem in the past."

For his part, Magee isn't upset by the events.

"It just means that I won't be on the Independence line," Magee said, noting that he did not appear on the line in his last election, either.

In the Nov. 6 general election, Magee, a Democrat who lives in Nelson, will face off with Republican challenger Levi Spires of Cazenovia for what will be known as the 121st Assembly District after redistricting takes place.

As to why candidates seek nominations from the smaller parties, Terry Karst said it can "help them get elected" in a close race. He said it can help them get enough votes to win.